Speakers for SITE 2015

Keynote Speaker – Tuesday, March 3, 2015

Creative Disruption at the Intersection of Arts and Technology Education

Kathleen Tyner, Univ. of Texas, USA

Abstract:

Kathleen Tyner from The University of Texas at Austin opens a dialogue about the way that technologies can be used to transform learning through artistic expression, civic engagement and experimental practices. Recent trends in arts education, Do It Yourself (DIY), and Maker Movements provide field-tested models that inform the design of vibrant, project-based sites for personal and collaborative media creation. In addition, partnerships with community-based organizations, youth media practitioners and DIY digital makers offer valuable resources that support the innovative uses of technologies across the curriculum. This keynote discusses the rich opportunities and provocative challenges for educators as creative media practices engage with the traditional culture of schooling.

Biographical Information:

Kathleen Tyner is Associate Professor in the Department of Radio-Television-Film at The University of Texas at Austin. She collaborates internationally with researchers, educators, artists and practitioners in museums, schools and non-profit organizations for projects related to media and information literacy, the media arts, media production and serious games. Professor Tyner is author, co-author and editor of numerous books, articles and curricular materials, including Media Literacy (Routledge, 2009) and Literacy in a Digital World: Teaching and Learning in the Age of Information (Erlbaum, 1998). She serves on the editorial boards for The Journal of Digital and Media Literacy(Queens University of Charlotte), Revista Communicar (Spain), and the International Journal of Learning and Media (Massachusetts Institute of Technology).

Keynote Speaker – Wednesday, March 4, 2015

Education for the Future We Want: A Call for Action

Jonghwi Park, UNESCO, Thailand

Abstract:

The past few decades have witnessed exponential advancement of technologies, bringing us to a whole new world that was not even imaginable just 20 years ago. In education, it is believed that these new and affordable technologies can enable anyone to learn from anywhere and anytime, with personalized learning paths available for each of the individual’s needs. However, 57 million children in the world today remain to be out of school, too often for reasons that in the 21st century should not remain as barriers to their right to quality education. Across the world, 775 million adults cannot read, write or count, 64 percent of whom are female. With all the resources and technologies that we have today, the pertinent question remains as to why this is still happening and what we can do to help reduce these vast gaps. In response to these concerns, this talk aims to introduce UNESCO’s vision for the role of ICT in achieving quality education for everyone, regardless of gender, culture, income and any special needs. Themes such as the challenges that UNESCO and international organizations face in pursuing this vision, and how the research community, such as SITE, can help in moving forward together will be further explored. The talk will conclude by inviting researchers and educators to collectively deliberate on potential areas for collaboration in order to finally achieve education for the future we want.

Biographical Information:

Dr. Jonghwi Park is Programme Specialist in ICT in Education, UNESCO Asia-Pacific Regional Bureau for Education (UNESCO Bangkok). Her main duty is to support 46 Member States of the Asia-Pacific region in integrating ICT in their education system in a holistic manner. Led by Dr. Park, ICT in Education Team at UNESCO Bangkok provides ICT policy review, technical supports for ICT policy development and regional comparative research on ICT in education. Her team is also specialized in designing and implementing various capacity building modules for teachers and teacher educators to facilitate the effective ICT-pedagogy integration. She oversees high-level policy fora to promote policy dialogues on ICT in Education at regional and sub-regional levels, including the Asia Pacific Ministerial Forum on ICT in Education, the Central Asia Symposium on ICT in Education, and the Regional Seminar on Innovative ICT Practices, to name a few. Prior to joining the UNESCO Bangkok, Dr. Park managed various e-learning projects in both private and public sectors in Korea and worked as ICT-pedagogy consultant for secondary teachers and university professors in Canada. She holds MA in Educational Technology from Hanyang University, Republic of Korea and PhD in Educational Psychology (specialized in Learning Sciences) from McGill University, Canada.

Keynote Speaker – Thursday, March 5, 2015

Language, the World, and Video Games: Teaching & Learning in an Imperiled World

James Gee, Arizona State University, USA

Abstract:

This talk starts from the premise that we are living at a time when human stupidity has brought us to the verge of disaster. At the same time, while schools and colleges are largely stuck in the past, a new paradigm of 21st Century learning has arisen out of school creating new possibilities, but new equity divides as well. To understand this new paradigm and how to spread it before it is too late for us humans we need to rethink how language, mind, human experience, digital tools like video games, and leaning can work together to create collective intelligence. In particular I will argue that our current views of learning and teaching in schools seriously misunderstands language and literacy, let alone new digital media. I argue that both teaching (as a set of specific acts) and language teaching, in particular, need to be construed far more broadly than we typically do and are both much more central to learning in and out of school than we typically think. As we enter an age of digital media and new digital literacies it is crucial that we get straight how language and traditional literacy actually work in regard to learning. Otherwise we will (as we are) just create new equity divides to go with our old ones (which we have done little about in terms of actual progress).

Biographical Information:

James Paul Gee is the Mary Lou Fulton Presidential Professor of Literacy Studies and Regents’ Professor at Arizona State University. He is a member of the National Academy of Education. His book Sociolinguistics and Literacies (Fourth Edition 2011) was one of the founding documents in the formation of the “New Literacy Studies”. His book An Introduction to Discourse Analysis (Third Edition 2011) brings together his work on a methodology for studying communication in its cultural settings, an approach that has been widely influential over the last two decades. His most recent books have dealt with video games, language, and learning. What Video Games Have to Teach Us About Learning and Literacy (Second Edition 2007) argues that good video games are designed to enhance learning through effective learning principles supported by research in the Learning Sciences. Situated Language and Learning (2004) places video games within an overall theory of learning and literacy and shows how they can help us in thinking about the reform of schools. The Anti-Education Era: Creating Smarter Students through Digital Media appeared in 2013. Prof. Gee has published widely in journals in linguistics, psychology, the social sciences, and education.

Keynote Smithsonian Talk – Thursday, March 5, 2015

American Innovations in an Age of Discovery: Teaching Science and Social Studies through 3D-printed Historical Reconstructions

Abstract:

The Smithsonian X 3D initiative makes it possible to reproduce selected artifacts from the Smithsonian collections using 3D technologies. The Society for Information Technology and Teacher Education (SITE) is piloting use of these resources in science and social studies. This enables students to invent our future through discovery of our past. During the second industrial revolution, science was applied to engineering on a large scale for the first time. The resulting innovations shaped our world. Today, students are surrounded by technology made possible by these early predecessors; however, modern technology is complex and opaque, challenging for even professionals to truly understand. This presentation will explore the relevance of early inventions to future problem solvers and illuminate how emerging technologies-3D digitization and advanced manufacturing-are inspiring students to bridge disciplines to become the makers of history.

Invited Speaker – Tuesday, March 3, 2015 – 1:45 PM

Game-Based Learning: Trends, Research, and Sheer Ridiculousness

Barbara Chamberlin, New Mexico State University, USA

Abstract:

Though transformational, serious and educational games have been used for some time, research and wide-spread school-based integration on games are being met with increased enthusiasm. Dr. Chamberlin will share some of the latest research on game impacts (including where research can go next), upcoming trends for classroom-based gaming, and some of the challenges the game-based learning field faces.

Biographical Information:

Barbara Chamberlin directs game development and research at New Mexico State University’s Learning Games Lab, (learninggameslab.org) where professionals create educational games, apps, animations, science simulations, videos and other learning tools. Most recently, the lab has completed games, animations, videos and teacher tools for the Math Snacks project (Mathsnacks.org), eight Virtual Labs simulations (virtuallabs.nmsu.edu), and several other projects related to STEM learning. Barbara’s background is in informal learning, and she has worked with teams on over 30 different learning games, projects and apps. Though the lab works on projects for a diverse collections of audiences and content, she has a particular passion for STEM content. Prior to her work in academia, she worked as a stand-up comic. Her PhD is from University of Virginia in Instructional Design.

Invited Speaker – Wednesday, March 4, 2015 – 1:45 PM

What Makes an Innovation Innovative?

Krista Glazewski, University of Indiana, USA

Abstract:

Today’s learners will eventually become tomorrow’s leaders, addressing complex environmental, economic, political, educational, and social dilemmas. In this context, educators are pushed to adopt innovations that enable students toward forms of deeper thinking and knowledge building, while also meeting disciplinary standards and mandates. It is critical, however, that we consider how we are pushing classroom innovations, and Dr. Glazewski will showcase examples from her research that demonstrate how some forms of technology are being used to engage students in complex problem solving. She will also invite us to consider how we think about the ways in which innovations help or hider our ability to pose new and different questions to our students.

Biographical Information:

Krista D. Glazewski is an associate professor of Instructional Systems Technology at Indiana University, Bloomington. Her work and interests are centered primarily on problem-based learning within professional preparation and to meet disciplinary goals. Her primary research interest is in supporting teachers and students as they shift their learning practices toward problem-based inquiry. She has over almost 20 years of experience in public education, first as a middle school teacher and later as a teacher educator. Presently, she serves as co-editor of The Interdisciplinary Journal of Problem-Based Learning, and open-access journal that publishes scholarly work on problem-, project-, case-, and inquiry-based learning.